Wings Of Fire - A New Dawn
by Jdragon8
Summary: Dawn is a hybrid. After living life with Thorn, and receiving a letter about the possible end-of-war gathering, they move. But trouble lies for Dawn, and captured, she has no choice but to escape. But tricked by Smolder, who isn't what he seems, and down in the pit, what is happening? But when the Daleks arrive, Dawn realises she has to make a choice. Stay, fight and die; or flee?
1. Chapter 1 - Burn's Army

Dawn poked her head out of the tent flap. She was a three year old dragonet, and her group were on the move again. They were already packing as the sight of Burn's army appeared on the horizon. She spread her shining black wings and looked up to the sun. She may have looked like a NightWing, but that was entirely not her choice. She actually _was_ part NightWing, but the rest of her biology was SandWing. She had no idea who her father was, only her mother. "Thorn?" she called. "Burn's army is due east of here. If we don't move, they'll catch us in a matter of hours."

Her passion for music meant she had to carry her own instruments. Nobody else wanted to. "It's only four..." she had complained. "And I'm only a three year old dragonet after all..."

"You have the strength of ten fully grown dragons, thanks to that necklace." Thorn had told her sharply. "And you still have to tell me where it came from."

"I've told you a million times, but you weren't listening. I said I FOUND IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT."

"Yesterday you told me you'd found it in the mountains. Where did it actually come from?"

"Fine... A friend gave it to me. I can't tell you who they are. Sorry, mother."

She hooked her claws into the tent fabric bag and flared her wings. _What could I do with my animus magic?_ Thousands of possibilities ran through her head, like a stream full of wet slippery fish she couldn't catch and examine, as they were there, and then they were gone.

Suddenly, there was a flash in the sky, and she had just enough time to look up, as a huge chunk of rock came hurtling towards her. _Uh oh..._ she thought, and a new melody rang out in her head:

_Rock of fallen stardust glow,_

_Light the darkened world below,_

_See the new dragonet show,_

_Fall away dragonet, fall or go,_

_Fall or go, fall or go._

She dived, just as the rock hit her in the back, and she felt her wings burning, burning. Then, she crumpled, and faded into blackness.

_Too late dragonet, too late to fly. _

_Should have flown away, now you'll die._

_Music gone with your mind's distant cry,_

_Bye bye, dragonet, oh, bye bye,_

She woke, to heavy wingbeats. Her claws felt stiff and heavy and she couldn't move, as if there was something on top of her.

"Sir, there's a dragonet here. Looks like she was hit by the comet."

"Let's take her to Queen Burn."

Then she felt the heavy weight being heaved off her, and she opened one eye. They were both dragons, probably twice her age and size, and they were both SandWing soldiers.

_Working for Burn, definitely._

"What tribe is she?"

"She's a SandWing, idiot!"

_SandWing? My scales must have changed due to that meteorite. Do I still have animus magic?_

She stretched out one talon. "She's awake," one of the SandWings said. "Hello dragonet." He crouched down to look her in the eyes. "What's your name?"

"...I don't remember," she said, lying by instinct. If these strange dragons knew her name, things could get tricky if they told Burn. Burn knew her all too well. She had always wanted a NightWing with speckled gold scales and animus magic for her collection. _I enchant this sand in this square mile to turn to red sand. That should work, and distract them so I can get away!_

There was a rumble, and the sand shifted colour.

"Did you see that, Cactus?"

"Yes." Cactus sighed. "I did. I'm not blind."

"Do you want me to knock her out?"

"Yes. She must be going through so much pain, what with her broken wings and burns. Try to break her skull," Cactus sneered.

_No..._ she wanted to cry out, but it was too late. With a crack, her jaw bone splintered. Everything went dark.


	2. Chapter 2 - Starsteel Chains

She woke with a start. Her breathing was heavy and rasping. _Dry air... _she thought. _There must be sand everywhere. But why is it affecting my breathing?_

She twitched, and felt the cold iron chains that bound her refuse to move. Her back was sore, and she was dangling, she noticed. Her claws couldn't touch anything, and the darkness around her suggested she was in a dungeon. A deep dark one.

A wail broke the silence, and she couldn't hear her heart beat, it was so loud. "Who's there?" she ventured.

There was a pause where absolutely nothing happened, no thoughts, no sound from anywhere.

She just stayed silent as thoughts wandered through her head. Her chains dug in and she clawed at the binds. _I'm such an idiot. I have animus magic! Why don't I just enchant my way out here? _

"I enchant my bindings to-"

"That won't work." a new voice interrupted her.

"Sorry?"

"It won't work."

"Why not?"

"I've tried."

"Oh, so you're an animus too? I though there were only so many animi in this world."

There was a long pause, as if the speaker was waiting to make sure that Queen Scarlet was asleep. When there were soft steady snores from the cell next to her, the speaker continued.

"..I'm not from your continent."

There was a pause as Dawn tried to digest this. "Not from our continent? Where are you from?"

"Pantala."

"What!? You are? That was a legend my mother told me. About the dragons of Pantala. The legend said they didn't have magic there. I didn't think Pantala actually existed"

"I was enchanted by someone else." was the plain reply.

"So why can't I enchant these chains?"

"They're made especially for animus dragons, and they're not iron, but starsteel."

They both stayed silent after that comment, but soon they heard the clink of keys, and the prisoner who was from Pantala cried out, "Smolder! You come with food?"

There was a moment of silence, before Smolder's reply. "No. Burn's coming. To kill you, and possibly me too."

He let out a long sigh. "Ok, definitely me. After I failed to keep Sunny and Thorn prisoner."

"Thorn?! She was a prisoner here!?"

"Yes. Why does that surprise you? I read your prisoner file. She's your mother and you lived with her in the Scorpion Den."

"Does it say who my father is?" Dawn joked.

"Yes."

Dawn's blood went cold, as if talons had grabbed her heart in icy clutches. "My... father?" she choked out.

Smolder flicked his tail in amusement.

"Do you want to talk to me about it?" Dawn asked. "Whilst walking?"

Smolder looked indecisive. "Promise you won't escape?"

"Promise." she said, crossing her claws behind her back.

Smolder took out a key. "Come along then."


	3. Chapter 3 - Smolder the Imposter

Smolder fingered the keys to her chains and undid them. Dawn slid down and Smolder picked up the lantern he had been carrying. He beckoned, his barbed tail rattling across the floor. "I can't have you out for too long, or Burn would kill me."

"Dawn twisted back to give the Pantalan dragon a fleeting glance. "I will come back for you," she whispered, so Smolder wouldn't hear. She noticed she still had the starsteel band around her barbed tail. _Smart,_ she thought. _Restricting my tail and my magic, all at the same time. So I won't try any escapes._

"So." she said. "Who is my father?"

Smolder brought out the file from her pouch. _He knows my secret, my name, my magic, he knows that I changed appearance, because theres one thing dragons could still identify me by... and that's my eyes. No one elses's eyes change to show their emotion,_ she thought, her mind twisting into a frenzy of anxiety.

"Hmm." Smolder said. He had glanced at her eyes. "You're... scared?" he guessed.

"Don't you read my eyes." Dawn hissed.

"I know all your secrets." He rotated his wrist to show her her file. "It says here that you changed form when the meteor struck. Your eyes are your one feature that have stayed the same, and they change colour depending on your mood."

"Is that animus touched?" she asked.

"I don't know, the prisoner files show up on these clipboards once a dragon has been taken captive, so probably."

Smolder stopped, glancing ever-so-slightly at a point on the wall. He lent over and placed one claw on the wall. Dawn walked over to him, not realizing that she was standing on a small red cross.

With one swift movement, Smolder pressed a button on the side of the wall. The stone she was standing one fell away, and she fell down.

"Oh, and I forgot to say, your father is Stonemover the NightWing!" he snarled down the hole. "I knew of your intent to escape. Burn would be furious if she found out, one, you'd escaped, two, you'd changed form. I'll just have to say that the guards killed you and buried your body."

Dawn could see him clawing at his face, and peeling it off. The voice abruptly changed. "And you'll be good company for..." his last word was muffled as she landed at the bottom in a cold, cold room. It was dark, and she felt bones beneath her talons. Crack, crack. She tried to fly, but the ceiling was low, and she'd lost sight of the way she came in. _Who is Smolder really? _

"Hello?" she called out nervously.

The only thing that came back was her echo, and she listened to the fading noise. This was a tunnel, made of stone, deep below the desert. She breathed out a plume of fire, and saw the scale of the cavern. She followed the trail, and it took her out, to an even larger room, so big, her SandWing claustrophobia didn't affect her at all. It felt like the desert at night.

"Hello?" she tried again, and was rewarded with a rumble of moving earth. She clung to the rock beneath her, and trembled. _Or is that the earth? _

Slowly, majestically, a head rose from the hole below, and looked at her with glowing eyes.

She backed against the wall, and tried not to scream. Her scales were the exact opposite of stealthy in this sort of environment, and she stuck out like an IceWing in a crowd of NightWings. This thought did not help her shrieking terrified brain.

"Wh...who... are you?" she stammered.

"Oh." The head drew back. It breathed a burst of flame above her head and she ducked, but she didn't need to, it soared way above her head, and landed on a huge torch, which lit up the whole cave. The huge glistening blue dragon ahead of her lay coiled below her, apart from its head, which was level with hers.

It rested its head on its talons in front of her and said in a slightly sad voice. "I thought they'd send another one down soon."

"You're going to eat me aren't you? That's what Smolder-not-Smolder meant."

There came a deep rumble from the strange dragon and it took a moment for Dawn to realize that it was laughing. "No. No. You'll stave to death like all of the other unfortunate ones here." it held out its talons and indicated the bones. "That's not my meal. That's time's meal." It looked up. "Time is a ravenous thing," it said thoughtfully.

"So, what's your name?" the dragon asked, looking back down to her. A noise started up from somewhere behind her, like a siren. Whaaaa...

The dragon's ears pricked up, but it didn't say anything.

"I'm Dawn." she said, then stopped. _Why am I telling her/him/it my name? Didn't I deny that to a stranger a few hours ago?_

The siren got louder. Then Dawn realized it wasn't a siren. _That's someone screaming._

Then, with a thud, the dragon falling landed. "Dawn?" she called out.

I recognize that voice... That's my Pantalan friend.

"Oh, theres one more." the voice came from behind her.

"I'm here!" Dawn cried, charging into the cave. "What happened?"

"Smolder... Face... Ripped off... Burn... Escaped..." she panted.

"You saw Smolder drop me in and rip his face off just when Burn arrived so you escaped down the same hole I did?" Dawn asked.

Her friend nodded.

"Lucky guess." Dawn smiled, then turned round. "You were just about to tell me your name?" she asked the stranger.

"Nobody asked my name," the dragon shrugged. "At least after I landed in this universe."

A thousand questions appeared in Dawn's head, but before she could ask any of them, the stranger continued, "I'm the Doctor. And your world is in great danger."


	4. Chapter 4 - The Escape

Dawn gasped, "Our world? In danger?"

The Doctor looked solemn, "Yes, from the most deadly force in the multiverses."

Her eyes suddenly lit up with an old, old rage. "Daleks."

Dawn looked confused. "What are they?"

The Doctor breathed out a great plume of smoke. It wound around them, and they could just make out the shape of terrifying monsters, with weapons and they were massacring many creatures Dawn had never seen before.

The smoke vanished, and the Doctor sighed. "Unless they've already killed your population. I've been planning an escape, but it's useless now that I'm too big to use my sonic screwdriver. I could use magic, but I don't have any."

Dawn's eyes lit up, "Oh! I do!"

"Do you?"

All the time they had been talking, her Pantalan friend had been searching for the exit, which had closed up.

"Hey!" the Doctor called. "You haven't introduced yourself to me yet!"

The dragon turned round. "I'm Ladybird," she said, before twisting round to continue searching.

The Doctor picked Dawn up and stared at her tail. "There's a little band of starsteel there. Let me get it off. You can't cast spells with it on."

"I know," Dawn said. "Ladybird! Come back! I'm going to get us out of here!"

"I have magic too!"

"Not with that band on you don't!" the Doctor said. "Come here."

With one swift movement, she flicked the starsteel band off Ladybird's wing.

"Cast your spells and let's get going!"

_I enchant the earth and sand and stone above me to weaken so we can escape. Bit improvised but it'll do._

There was a huge crack and a bit of dust fell down from the ceiling. "You should be able to break through that, Doctor." Dawn said.

The Doctor flared her wings and rammed her head into the ceiling, breaking through and saw sand pouring in. "We're going to suffocate!" Dawn yelled.

"Already on it!" Ladybird yelled back. Soon, there was an air bubble surrounding them and the Doctor's head. She kept tunnelling up and up, until sunlight seeped through the sand, and they burst free.

The soldiers surrounding the 'sinkhole' (as it was reported as to other dragons) leapt back as the Doctor burst out.

"It's Darkstalker!" someone shrieked. "Fly for your lives!"

Half the crowd took off and flapped away screaming.

The soldiers braced their spears, but what they would do to a dragon the Doctor's size was nothing worse than a fleabite.

She shook off sand, spraying it in every direction, before looking over to Burn's stronghold. Ladybird and Dawn threw themselves into the air, to avoid the sand.

Below, they spotted Smolder, with a look of disbelief on his face. It changed into a scowl and he cried, "This creature eats dragons! Flee!"

The rest of the crowd fled.

Smolder stayed put, and he grabbed one of the guard's spears. "Time to die, Doctor."

But only Dawn heard him. _How does he know the Doctor's name?_

The Doctor took an unsteady step, then catapulted into the air, leaving a raging shrieking Smolder behind. They soared on the air currents for a few hours, but soon Jade Mountain was in sight.

"Why are we coming here?" Dawn asked the Doctor.

She replied, "It's the only place I can find some proper information about Darkstalker."

Dawn was worried about that, until she saw the underside of the Doctor's wings. They were mint green with round gold plates with unrecognizable symbols on them. _So not starry, like a NightWing's._ she thought. _I only hope that whoever lives at Jade Mountain won't think she is Darkstalker. I hope._


	5. Chapter 5 - The Assassin

As Dawn lay coiled in the hollow of a tree that night with Ladybird and she began to think through the past few days. _Captured by Burn, and Smolder's creepy peeling face, and now I'm on the run with two complete strangers. What has my life come to?_

The Doctor was somewhere outside, probably pretending to be a small mountain, fast asleep.

"Ladybird?" Dawn called softly.

Ladybird lifted her head. "Yes?" she answered.

"Can you sleep?"

There was a long pause. "No." Ladybird answered finally, her four wings tucking in as she took a cat-like leap to land on the branch outside of the tree.

Then, the wall parted, to reveal a large yellow eye. "I can't either," the Doctor whispered. "But, you know what, I don't need that much sleep anyway. I've had plenty of rest down in that chasm."

Ladybird flicked her wings. "Why don't we tell each other ghost stories?" she grinned.

Dawn twitched. "I have a good one. Can I tell first?"

"Yeah, sure," Ladybird said.

Dawn took a deep breath. "The story begins when two tribes split from this continent. They were known as the BeetleWings and the LeafWings. There had been a great war, not unlike this one, where the tribes were fighting, and eventually, they fled."

Ladybird's ears pricked up. "Did you say LEAFWINGS? That's a tribe from Pantala, where I'm from!"

"The dragons were refugees, every single one left, or were killed," Dawn continued. "The legend says that the night they arrived, the animals attacked, moving as a single creature, killing many of the refugees. Legend says that the flamesilks saved them, by burning them away. The dragons began to realise that they only attacked where there was a strange vine. A vine that they called the breath of evil."

"Whoa..." Ladybird said, and she and the Doctor listened in fascinated silence, as Dawn told them about the arrival of Clearsight, the building of the Hives, and the slavery of the SilkWings and the slaughter of the LeafWings. _And the song has finished. That was a strange one... I've never known so much about a continent I've never been too. The songs are getting more frequent. _A line of pain cracked across her left temple, and she fell to the side clutching it. It was warm and wet, and she smelt a metallic scent. _My blood... I'm bleeding..._

The Doctor lifted her head abruptly and she scanned the undergrowth for any sign of movement. Ladybird ran over to her, claws out, teeth bared, on guard, ready to defend her friend. She lifted her tail, and a sharp pointed barb slid out. Dawn was too dizzy to respond. The Doctor ripped off a leaf with her teeth and held it out to Ladybird who pressed it to Dawn's head. Slowly, she felt the pain of the wound disappear, and her head clear. "What was that?"

"I'll explain later..." the Doctor whispered. "But it's a brownish-black dragon, is brownish-black a colour? Anyway, he's got a pouch around his neck, which clacks quietly whenever he moves. He hasn't seen me yet, or Ladybird, he's only seen you."

Dawn tried to rise to her feet, but failed. The headache was back. Her palms glowed faintly golden, or was that her imagination? She felt a bit woozy, but really energized. Also, like she was going to die and was happy about it? That wasn't normal. No one is happy about dying. "I don't want to die..." she said softly.

The Doctor started back in complete shock - or was it horror? - rising back to her full height, catching the moonlight on her gold disks. "That's impossible." Dawn thought she heard her say. The Doctor's ears were flattened against her head, even her horns were tightening back.

"What is it?" Ladybird cried. "What's wrong with her?"

The Doctor said nothing, just staring at her with her mouth wide open, shock filling her eyes. She glanced down at Dawn's glowing talons, but her facial expression didn't change. The Doctor studied her.

Dawn shrieked, as her hands glowed brighter. What was happening? They were getting hotter and more golden and more strange and fuzzy... like fire, but not painful. She felt like she could do anything, but she couldn't, she COULDN'T she was rooted to the spot in terror what was happening to her? This was not meant to happen. She was dying but not because it felt like she was dancing between death and life and she couldn't make her mind up... They were saying something... What were they saying?

She felt a burst of energy... she couldn't hold on it was going to rip her apart if she did...

She let go.

Fire leapt from her talons and face as she flung herself into the air, flying higher and higher with each swift wingbeat. She filled up the sky like a fourth moon, drifting on wings that were not hers, they weren't hers they were black like stars and white like silver, both at the same time. The gold was vanishing, becoming a mellow silver. Her face was changing, it was stretching into a long spiked snout, like an IceWing's. What is going on? she wanted to cry out. Her horns multiplied on her frill and her back. Her wing membranes paled, like the moons, and she twisted, finally free.

It felt like an eternity when it ended, the fire, the burning, and the strange warping feeling of her entire body. She flew down_,_ her aura fading. She felt strange. She felt like she wasn't a _she _anymore, but a _he. _A male. Her entire gender was changed, all because she refused to die. She was a _he._

He spiraled down to the Doctor and Ladybird. Their faces stared back at him, and he smiled. He was an IceWing now, and he still went by the name Dawn, still was the same dragon on the inside, nobody could change that.

"That's the most dramatic regeneration I've ever seen," the Doctor said, solemnly. "And trust me, I've seen a lot."

"Regeneration?" Dawn asked, his spines rattling by habit in the cold night. "That's a term I like. Now, why do you know so much about 'regeneration'? What am I?" his voice was soft, different, deeper.

Ladybird had her wings tucked back and looked as though one of the moons had dropped out of the sky, and taken the form of her friend. "You've changed," she said simply.

"Yes?"

"Have you ever done it before?"

"Er..." said Dawn. "Yes."

The Doctor snapped her head round to look Dawn in the eye. "When?" she asked sharply.


	6. Chapter 6 - Scavengers

Dawn explained how he was hit by a giant chunk of rock, and woke up a completely new dragon, his previous form.

The Doctor listened with quiet fascination.

When Dawn was finished, the Doctor asked, "Can you take me to the crash site? I'd like to have a look at this meteorite."

As the rising sun swept its warmth across the valley the trio took off, the Doctor flapping behind. For such a large dragon, she had trouble flying.

"Are you all right?" Dawn said, pivoting round to face the Doctor.

"Yes, I'm fine," the Doctor replied.

"What's wrong? You were flying fine on the way here."

"I'm fine."

They kept flying in silence, before Dawn announced, "I'm going to grab us some food. Are you hungry?"

"Oh, yes!" Ladybird cried. "Doctor?"

"Nah. I don't need to eat that often."

As Dawn dived, he noticed tears in the wingpit of the Doctor's left wing. Caused by cruel silver discs, not unlike the one that had hit her on the side of the head. There were actually a few stuck in there, in the thick scales, lodged, and probably being pushed deeper each time the Doctor flapped her wings.

He returned a bit later after four unsuccessful hunts, after which he gave up and got a few apples, which he didn't even want. He had intended to catch a few scavengers, but they had run off, before he had got a grip on them.

"Apples, freshly picked. I would have got a deer but they were too fast." he handed Ladybird a few apples. "My new body is so clumsy, and I feel woozy half the time."

"A normal side affect," the Doctor said unexpectedly, "Nothing to worry about."

"You seem to know a lot about regeneration. How?"

"I happen to have experienced it myself."

"REALLY?" Ladybird said. "THE OTHER TWO DRAGONS HERE HAPPEN TO HAVE THE NOT-DYING BUG AND I DON'T? That's not fair."

"This ability isn't a complete lifesaver. Sure, it makes us stronger mentally and gives us a few extra millennia to live, but we can still suffer. It's not complete immortality. Don't waste lives because you have them at your expense, although the saddest thing is having your acquaintances die before you," the Doctor looked up to the sky.

There was a rustle behind him, he could just make out the chattering of scavengers. _Apples? Bleh. Scavengers could be tastier than this fruity abomination._

He excused himself, and ran off, leaving the other two to discuss animus magic spells to create immortality, or, rather, Ladybird was constructing spells for immortality out loud, and the Doctor was gently trying to convince her otherwise.

The scavengers were in a circle, and two were young, darker skinned than the other, who had a mop of grey fur on his head and looked older.

_Which shall I eat first?_ he asked himself.

They were arguing particularly loudly, as if they didn't know dragons lived at least one mile in every direction.

He leapt, to land in front of the scavengers, who stopped, and stood still. _I'll take them all,_ Dawn thought, _one for each of us._

He prowled around the scavengers, who shivered, but otherwise seemed unafraid. He lunged at them, and they took steps back.

Dawn grabbed them with his tail, and they chittered quietly to each other. Proudly, head held high, he slunk back to the clearing, and hid the scavengers behind him.

"Hey, guess what I found!" he yelled.

Ladybird and the Doctor turned round to see him, bounding over.

"Tah-daaa!" he held them up to the light. "Look what I found! We can have one each! There aren't any in the desert, so I wondered if anyone would like to try one." the scavengers yelped as he waved them around.

"Its... a bunch of creatures I've never seen before." Ladybird remarked. She sniffed, and flicked her tail. "And I'm vegetarian."

"Oh." Dawn said. He held them up hopefully to the Doctor. Her pupils dilated and she focused on them. Her face lit up with recognition. "Yaz! Graham! Ryan! It's me!"

"Who's she talking to?" Ladybird whispered to Dawn. He shrugged.

"Doctor!" one of the scavengers piped up. "We thought you'd been eaten or something! We were trying to get back to the TARDIS. Sounds like it's quite close. I can understand these dragons."

"Well, now we're all together again, we can stop you from getting eaten," the Doctor shot a glare at Dawn who shrank back and looked down. "We're off to find the TARDIS, and then it's time to find the crash site, and solve this mystery!"


	7. Chapter 7 - Master of Puppets

It was a restless night for Dawn. The 'TARDIS' was nowhere to be found, and the scavengers could speak. WHAT WAS GOING ON, WAS SHE GOING INSANE? _He._ he thought. _I'm a he now. And what about Thorn? Will I ever see her again? She won't even recognize me..._

_Slowly, he drifted into an uneasy sleep._

_He was standing in front of Burn's stronghold, except he knew without knowing that Burn was dead. How could such a powerful dragon be dead?_

_The shadows were moving, following him._

_"Who's there?" he called out. _

_"Just another dragon... TIME LORD." it hissed._

_"Just come out!" he yelled, wishing he had a barbed tail to rip the darkness apart and reveal the dragon behind. The sand beneath him stopped him from moving, trapping his claws._

_"I have full control of your dream, there's no point fighting it," the creature said casually. "Open your eyes." he said abruptly. Dawn watched himself snap awake, like a window to reality, except it was, it truly was._

_"I can see you, and your miserable associates," he said, drawling. "Go over to the scavengers, now there's a good dragonet. Now, should I control you to eat them? No that wouldn't be fun, although that would put the Doctor out her misery, and stop caring about them."_

_"You know the Doctor?"_

_"I grew up with her. But she wasn't always a 'her'. She used to be male, like your situation reversed."_

_He stopped, and then stepped out of the shadows. "Good thing I have an animus on my side," his scarred face split into an evil grin. "I've fought for Burn, drenching myself in my enemies' blood, finding whatever way I can to kill the SandWing-NightWing that stole my power. There isn't a single dragon that I haven't KILLED, just to get to you. And now, I know where you are."_

_"I didn't steal your power!" Dawn protested, back spikes rattling._

_"Don't you lie!" the scarred dragon roared. "Bring the scavengers to me." with a pop, the sleeping scavengers arrived in his talons. "Thank you so much Dawn, and by the way... These scavengers are mine!"_

_In Dawn's vision from the creature's eyes, he saw the Doctor wake, to find the scavengers gone, and look around. _

_The creature tore off his face, and revealed metal. There was a scavenger seated in the place where the dragon's left eye should have been. "Kill me." he roared. "Use your frostbreath."_

_To his horror, Dawn felt the ice gathering in his throat, and breathed, freezing the scavenger solid. There was screaming manic laughter, and the dream ended._

He woke, to feel warm talons on his wings, and blinked. "I had a really bad dream." he croaked. "I'm so sorry about the scavengers... I couldn't help it... He controlled me... I..."

The Doctor was there, looking at him. "You took them?" she said.

"There was a dragon controlling me, he entered my dream and took them while he was inside it, a SandWing with a scarred face, and he made me kill him... He controls me!"

"Did you recognise him?"

"No."

"Where were you?"

"Burn's stronghold."

The Doctor's head snapped up and Ladybird looked at her. "We need to get there right away." she said sharply. "Pack what you can, we're leaving in five minutes."

They flew for the rest of the day, and the mountains were particularly hard to climb.

When they were in sight of the edge of the desert, they noticed something, a big black shape on the horizon. It moved swiftly, and it seemed to be getting bigger.

"What is that?" Ladybird asked.

The Doctor drew in a sharp breath, as if sensing something. "Did the... scarred SandWing have a tattoo? In the shape of a circle with some smaller circles and lines in it?"

"Yes." Dawn replied. "He did."

"Well, this is the dragon from your dream. And I know him too." she looked solemn, but in her eyes every emotion showed as plainly as Dawn's colour-changing eyes.

"Who is he?"

"The Master. My old friend. Or enemy. Whatever. We were both in the same school back on Gallifrey."

Then, the Master pounced, leaping straight into the Doctor.

"Hello, friend." he hissed at her. "We haven't met in... centuries it seems." he flicked his tail, and the Dawn realized that they were exactly the same size. Definitely the same age.

The Doctor rolled and the Master evaded her tail, which spun round to smack him across the snout. The Doctor rose, wings drawn back, tense. They faced each other for a long moment, then above them came a giant metallic disc, gold in colour and had so many turrets on the underside. "Daleks..." the Doctor and the Master muttered in unison.

"They're here!" the Doctor cried. "They'll destroy this universe. How did they get here?" she paused, thinking.

"Don't worry, I let them here, so don't bother trying to figure it out." he grinned manically. "They're going to destroy you once and for all, Doctor!" he laughed gleefully, as the disc descended.


	8. Chapter 8 - Daleks

The grating noise of laughter filled the air, no wait, it was words. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" and it came from the disc.

The Doctor leapt into the air with Ladybird as the Master blew out a plume of flame. He chuckled. "Dawn, come out wherever you are!" he sang.

Dawn felt himself rise, and he forced himself back, _He doesn't control me! Only I control me!_

The Master beckoned again, and Dawn reluctantly lifted into the air to meet him. He flew to the Master's eye level and said, "Yes?"

The Master held out one talon, and the disc landed on his palm, "These, are Daleks, Dawn. Have you ever seen a Dalek before?"

"No." Dawn replied, growling in his throat.

"Tut, tut, don't growl at me Dawn, that's not very polite!" he laughed cheerfully, (in such a way, Dawn thought, that his own mind and his instincts were arguing over whether to trust the Master or not).

Dragons were emerging from their homes in the mountains, red and orange SkyWings, to watch what was going on.

The disc split in the middle, and several metallic box-like creatures emerged. The black one grated to the Master, "WE ARE NOT HERE TO OBEY A TIME LORD, BUT WE AGREE TO YOUR TERMS AS YOU HAVE GIVEN US ANOTHER UNIVERSE TO CONQUER. DALEKS ARE SUPERI-" the Dalek's voice was cut off as the Doctor flattened it with her tail. An orange SkyWing whispered into another's ear. The dragon roared something at the others, and they got into troops. They hovered there in perfect formation, waiting for the order to attack. The Daleks spewed out of the crack in the ship, getting into formations too. The Doctor landed on the mountainside, "Oh, shut up!" she cried to the Daleks. Dawn caught Ladybird's attention, and they swooped into a cave, which the Doctor (without looking down) covered with her foot.

Dawn and Ladybird could hear the drip drip of a water source nearby, and Dawn went to reach for fire, but realised he didn't have any anymore. There was a cry of "EXTERMINATE!" and then the battle outside began. The Doctor's foot stayed in place, concealing them.

Suddenly, there was a long breath out from the other side of the cave. "Was that you?" Ladybird whispered.

"No. Was it you?"

"Nope." there was a pause. "Then who was it?" Dawn whispered. just then there came a single word from the darkness.

"Hello?"

Dawn and Ladybird froze.


	9. Chapter 9 - Shrinking Necklace

Dawn pressed himself against the wall, picking up a small rock as he did so. _I enchant this rock to obey my every command._

"Hover over my open palm and glow, enough to fill this whole cave with light, but not too much to blind us," Dawn said. The stone obeyed. The yellow light swept across the cave.

"Hello?" Ladybird said.

"Hello." came the reply. Dawn wasn't sure whether it was an echo or the figure hunched over in the corner. "Dragons don't visit me often," it continued, and twisted round to stare at them with black eyes. Then Dawn realised that the dragon was partially made of stone. Ladybird must have realised the same thing to because she said, "Are you... made of stone?"

"Yes." the stone NightWing replied. "It's a terrible curse, but I put it upon myself to protect everyone."

Dawn thought hard. "Are you an animus?" he said.

The dragon sighed. "Yes I am."

_He sounds like he wishes he wasn't... _Dawn thought, which was strange, _Who wouldn't want to have magic? Most ordinary dragons would kill to get ANIMUS MAGIC._

Suddenly, natural light streamed in, and the Doctor's foot vanished. The cave entrance was quickly covered up again.

"What's your name?" Dawn asked.

"Stonemover." the dragon replied.

Dawn's mind keeled over, and flopped like a wet fish on the floor. "Stonemover?" he croaked. _If Smolder-not-Smolder was telling the truth..._

"Are you... my father?"

"We had more than one egg?" he said. "I don't remember ever going near an IceWing."

"No, no I've... changed." Dawn looked down at himself. "I'm an animus too. What do you mean, more than one?"

"She visited me a few days ago, she was a prophecy dragonet. The prophecy's not even real." he sighed again, causing Dawn to feel a twinge of annoyance.

"Of course the prophecy's real, Burn's dead, Blister is dead, the SandWings have a new queen." Dawn stopped abruptly. _How did I know that? Must be my songs. _he thought, just as Stonemover said, "No NightWing has had prophecy or mind-reading in centuries."

_That's a lie. _Dawn thought, and natural light streamed in again. There was a scraping sound, and a huge thud, then massive dark blue talons reached in and picked Dawn up. _The Master. _Dawn thought in fear.

As he was lifted out, the stone dropped away and fell, to shatter on the rocks below. "You have been such an annoyance." The Master hissed. He lifted into the air, where everyone could see. "Time to die." Dawn felt himself being tossed into the air, and tried to open his wings but he was falling awkwardly. The Master's mouth opened.

_He's going to eat me, I'm going to die. Oh three moons, I enchant this necklace around my neck to transport me onto the peak of Jade Mountain. NOW! STUPID MAGIC NOW!_

There was a blur, and he watched the Master's jaws close on nothing. He saw the Doctor leap at him, flattening him to the grass. The Master snarled in annoyance, clawing at the Doctor's underbelly. "Let me go! The stupid dragonet teleported away somewhere. I'll be back though!" with a sinister laugh he flapped higher, and soon he was gone, but his voice echoed in everyone's ears.

The Doctor walked over to the mountain Dawn was on. "Are you ok?" she asked, and Ladybird flew up to him. "That was scary," she said. "I really thought my best friend was going to actually die."

"There's a new town being built somewhere north from here." the Doctor said unexpectedly. "I say we head there. Can you make me smaller with your magic, perhaps? I mean, it's cool being this big, but I need some form of incognito." she laughed.

Ladybird rummaged around in a pouch she'd got from somewhere, and drew out a necklace. She closed her eyes, and held it in her talons, before stretching it as far as it would go around the Doctor's clawtip, and the change was instant. The Doctor vanished, and there was a shout. "HELLO!" and it came from the cliff edge. The Doctor flew up, she still looked the same, just was a lot smaller, about Dawn's size.

"You could pass as a NightWing with your wings hidden, but that still won't explain the mint green." Dawn said. "Do you have a- Oh you do."

Ladybird was holding a cape. "Keep this over you wings and if it blows off and anyone asks, tuck in your wings to hide those gold plates and say you're a hybrid."

"Shall we get going?" Dawn asked. "Walking is best, if we have to have her wings covered..." he indicated the Doctor. "...and it'll give us time to discuss our plan to defeat the Master."

"If I need my size back, I can just take this necklace off, can I?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes."

"Then what are we waiting for? Lets go!" Dawn said, setting off down the grassy path towards the base of the mountain.


	10. Chapter 10 - Diving for the TARDIS

They spent most of the day on foot, but it was tiring as the day was hot. They found the source of the Great Five-Tail River within the day, and decided to set up camp as the sun was setting rapidly.

_How does the sun set so quickly? _Dawn thought, frustrated as he iced together some twigs to make a makeshift shelter for himself. It was going to be a cold night, and since he couldn't keep anyone warm, he slept alone. He also preferred the cool anyway, to the scorching hot sun that had blistered above their heads for the past day.

He slept unsteadily that night. Dreams and songs echoed through his head.

_Master of Darkness,_

_Master of Dreams,_

_Dreams are the torturer,_

_Not what they seem,_

_Dying and lying,_

_to get to your heart,_

_Dreams that are with you,_

_from the very start,_

_Killing your mind,_

_your heart and your soul,_

_What will the dragonet,_

_on his adventures befall?_

_The darkness of snakebites,_

_chosen by your head,_

_Moving the needle,_

_And now you're dead._

_Pulling the strings,_

_Tighten and twist,_

_Heard about mind control?_

_You're next on my list._

Dawn woke, feeling cold, colder than usual. _Mind control..._ he thought wearily. _What is that all about? Am I going to be mind controlled._

His ear pricked up. There was a sound, coming from the edge of the river, a faint splashing. He crept, slowly, along the path in the cluster of trees, and came out to the river source. The Doctor sat there, looking out to the wide river. Her cloak was off, by the side and she looked wet, as if she had been swimming. Her wings rested on either side of her, the green only barely showing up off the shadowed grass.

Her tail was off to one side, and she suddenly stood up and leapt off the bank, into the river. Dawn watched with horror as the ripples slowly faded. He stood for a while, waiting for her to come back up.

A few minutes later, a head came bursting up out of the water, gasping for breath. The Doctor was facing away from him, so she couldn't see him. "Almost had it!" she said to herself. Dawn watched curiously, as she dived down again, and vanished yet again. _Should I follow her? _he asked himself.

He shook himself out, preparing to jump in, just as the Doctor's head broke the surface again. She climbed out, and saw him. "Oh! Hello!" she grinned. "I'm a bit busy at the moment. Trying to find my... um... TARDIS. She's sunk straight down to the bottom of this river, and I can't pick her up on my own."

"Oh!" Dawn said. "Do you want me to help you? Like, maybe cast a spell to lift your TARDIS up?"

"No thanks, she can't be enchanted or touched by anything enchanted to change her position in anyway. It messes with the dimensions." she wrinkled her snout. "And she's not mine. Technically I'm hers. She was the one who stole me."

Dawn wasn't sure if she was joking. "So I just dive down and help you lift it up? Won't I drown?"

"No. If you're actually a Time Lord dragon hybrid, you won't drown." she rolled her shoulders back. "AHA!" she said suddenly, making Dawn jump. "I remember where my sonic is! I left it in the TARDIS on the console before I was captured, and was turned into a dragon."

She looked over to him. "You need to help me. I definitely used to be stronger. I can't lift it anymore, bit backward, I know but it'll make sense in a minute. Are you ready?" she asked him.

Dawn nodded.

"Follow me." she said. Then they dived. _Oh she means that she was able to lift it as a huge superdragon, but she can't anymore because of the shrinking spell. _Dawn thought.

Soon, his eyes were accustomed to the dark and he felt no struggle to breathe like he had when he swam in the oasis in the Scorpion Den and had his head underwater.

Soon, he could make out the shape of a blue box, with glowing text on it. He couldn't understand it at first, but then he saw it. _Police public call box. I understand the last three words, but what is a police? _The Doctor pointed to it and she mouthed something but he didn't understand. She held her talons out, and he let her touch the sides of his head. He felt a flash of memories, but they weren't his. He heard the words, _this is the TARDIS. She can translate any language and is a living thing. She has a mind of her own. She is much older than me, she was a museum piece before I was born._

_Born? _he thought back as hard as he could. _What does that mean?_

_Hatched, but not out of an egg. _the Doctor explained vaguely. She let go, and the connection severed.

They grabbed a corner each, and heaved, flapping their wings as hard as they could. The TARDIS wouldn't budge. Dawn floated over to the other side and saw that the TARDIS was stuck in some sharp rocks. He pointed, and they both swum down to the boulders. Dawn opened his mouth and blasted frostbreath at the stone, then smashed at it with his sharp tail. They made a crack noise that splintered through their entire surroundings, and he whacked it again. It broke loose, and the TARDIS juddered free. They both heaved, and Dawn's head began to feel light. He pointed up and the Doctor nodded. They pulled the TARDIS up, and they glided up at a quick pace. They finally broke free from the water's murky grip, and paddled there gasping for air like they had been starved of it for years.

They then pulled it up onto the edge, and the TARDIS lay on its side.

"Hey." came a voice behind them. "You, two, what is that?"

Dawn shuffled round on his tired limbs, and came face to face with Ladybird. "You could have died!" she shrieked in his face. "I heard you get up, Dawn, so I followed you and heard you talking to each other. Then, before I know what on Pantala you are talking about, you both dive in and don't come up for around ten minutes. You could have died, DAWN!"

Dawn hung his head, and behind him the Doctor stood up, a little doggedly at first, but then she strode over to Ladybird. "He couldn't have died, I was there. I'm- " she paused. "-responsible. I would have made sure he was ok."

Suddenly, there were thumps behind them, and they turned around. "Why hello, some lonely dragons with a strange blue box. You can't, say, have something to do with what happened in the mountains near the SkyWing palace?"

"Uh..." Dawn said, and spread his wings to cover the Doctor putting her cape back on. "No?"

"Hmmm..." the lead SkyWing said. "Take them to Ruby's palace, just in case."


	11. Chapter 11 - Queen Ruby

"The Queen will speak to you in a minute," a SkyWing said. "She is busy at the moment, but will be with you in a bit."

Dawn sighed, and sat down on the floor. "Queen of the SkyWings! That's Queen Scarlet, isn't it?" Ladybird asked him, sitting down next to him.

"No, Scarlet might be dead, the SkyWings who captured us said they would bring us before Queen _Ruby. _She's one of Scarlet's daughters."

"That makes sense," Ladybird said, letting her eyes wander around the room. The Doctor was still standing, waving an orange glowing stick around, and then looking at it. _I will never understand her._

Then, the Doctor's tail flicked, and Dawn stood up. "One second," he said.

Dawn and the Doctor talked for a moment in whispers, which gave Ladybird a stab of jealousy. About a minute later, Dawn came over to her, and said, "Ladybird, I've just... They're looking at us! I'm going to try tell you the special Time Lord way," he grinned at her. "I can't tell you out here." he whispered. "They're suspicious enough already."

He held his hands out, and Ladybird took them, and nodded, feeling jealousy for a different reason. _Hello why can't I know these stupid confidential Time Lord things HELLO. I'm just as good as a Time Lord. I wish I had super powers. I mean, I could discuss spells to make me a Time Lord with Dawn, since the Doctor didn't like them._

Dawn spread his wings and held his hands to her head. Then, a connection formed. She could hear Dawn's thoughts! _Three moons this is so cool!_ she thought.

_I know._

_WOAH. We're speaking telepathically, only mindreaders should be able to do this._

_Yup. Anyway, the Doctor and I were discussing... Since Ruby didn't beat Scarlet, and Scarlet isn't actually dead-_

_REALLY? SHE ISN'T?!_

_Yes, anyway, as I was saying, Queen Ruby is a little paranoid because her mother isn't dead. And she also has a dragonet, called Cliff. He hatched a couple of days ago. Just then when we were discussing different ways to make us seem trustworthy, without magic, I had a song. It's basically a vision, with a prophecy and everything. Do you want to hear?_

_Sure._

_It might give you a headache._

_Master of Darkness,_

_Master of Dreams,_

_Dreams are the torturer,_

_Not what they seem,_

_Dying and lying,_

_to get to your heart,_

_Dreams that are with you,_

_from the very start,_

_Killing your mind,_

_your heart and your soul,_

_What will the dragonet,_

_on his adventures befall?_

_The darkness of snakebites,_

_chosen by your head,_

_Moving the needle,_

_And now you're dead._

_Pulling the strings,_

_Tighten and twist,_

_Heard about mind control?_

_You're next on my list._

_Ow... Wow. That's scary... _Ladybird shivered.

_I know, so what do you think?_

"Ahem." the voice came so suddenly, they jumped, and the connection broke. "What were you doing?"

"Uh... Having a private conversation."

"Really?" the SkyWing looked sceptical. "Well, Her Majesty is ready to see you now. Come along." he beckoned, and they followed him into the Throne room, where the dazzling light instantly gave her a headache. Gold talonprints were smeared across the walls. She blinked, and came into focus on a deep red dragon sitting on the throne. She fell into a bow, wings spread out, at the same time as the Doctor and Dawn did.

"Your Majesty." the Doctor said.

"Who might you be?" Queen Ruby said.

"Starfruit." Dawn said. "Her name is Starfruit."

Ruby grinned. "So, Starfruit, I presume. Are you a Hybrid?"

"Straight to the point." the Doctor said. "I like you."

The Queen looked at her and frowned. "Yes, but are you a hybrid?"

"What if I'm a RainWing?"

"They're too lazy to bother coming here, and possibly having something to do with the fight between my troops and the metal things."

The Doctor's face stayed the same. "Well excuse me for asking, they can't all be lazy can they?"

"Well aside from the RainWing dragonet in the prophecy I suppose. I hear she's queen of both the RainWings and the NightWings. Quite an achievement." Ruby flicked her wings. "The other dragonets of the prophecy are starting a school, and a few of my tribe would like to attend. Carnelian, one of my soldiers was, however, forced by her parents. She's getting a place, as none of the other dragonets seem to want to attend, other than the other four, but I'm rambling on. What are you actually here for?"

The windows shattered.

The Daleks were back.


	12. Chapter 12 - Mind Thief

Dawn screamed, spikes rattling. The Doctor spread her wings, and the cape flew off, revealing the gold undersides of her wings. The light caught them, blinding Dawn.

Then a headache hit.

He crumpled forwards, knocking into Ladybird and they fell over. The Doctor braced her wings, and flapped out of the throne room, through the broken glass, spraying it everywhere.

He covered his eyes.

When the rain of glass was finished, he uncovered his eyes and looked around the room. Queen Ruby was gone, where she was he didn't know.

The Daleks descended. Dawn followed the Doctor through the glass, and heard Ladybird right behind him.

He and Ladybird circled the group of Daleks, and one rose to meet him. _They're a similar height to a scavenger. _he realised. _This must be what the Doctor meant. Maybe... No... She CAN'T be! _

He froze in midair as everything clicked into place. _That must be what she meant. She was a scavenger-Time Lord thing. That's why she said Time Lord - dragon hybrid, rather than just Time Lord. It would be just stupid if she was a sheep or something._

He looked over to Ladybird who was watching him slightly crossly. Then he realised he had been looking at the Doctor all the time he was thinking. _Oops._

He'd seen how much Ladybird loved him, when he was inside her head. He felt guilty.

Then, from nowhere, came a bolt of blue electricity. He dodged, but it hit Ladybird on the tail and she attempted to evade it too.

She span around in the air, but was otherwise unharmed.

And then she crashed into the palace roof. _Not completely unharmed._ _Oops. Should I have taken that blow?_

He dived down to see if she was ok, and was rewarded with a stinger to the snout. It scratched a line across one nostril, and he felt a stab of outrage. _THAT HURT!_

He tried to keep his cool, and hauled her out anyway. The cut bled, but soon closed up and healed completely. He looked over one shoulder and saw that the Doctor had taken her necklace off and was handling her situation ok.

Ladybird thrust another stinger that he barely managed to dodge. He leapt into the air and hovered uncertainly. She roared at him, and he called out, "What's wrong?"

**"You!"** she snarled.

Dawn was startled. "Me?" _Oh, three moons, she's being possessed. _

**"Yesss." **The thing inside Ladybird hissed. **"You. You who has all the power! I need it!" **She roared, and Dawn flapped once, hard, to clear himself from her range of slashing. Ladybird's white eyes gleamed.

"Ladybird!" Dawn cried. "What is up with you?"

**"You're going to die, Distant Kingdoms dragon!" **

"Distant Kingdoms?" Dawn asked, evading another swipe. The thing joined him in the air. "What's wrong with your voice? LADYBIRD!"

**"Nothing is wrong with my voice snivelling worm! I am the Queen of my continent, and you will not mock me!"**

The thing inside Ladybird barrelled into him, and he lost his altitude and crashed into the peak.

Dawn felt several bones in his right wing break and he collapsed.

She drew a stinger from her wrist, and shoved it into his chest. He gasped, and it caused a trickle of blood to stain his chest. **"DIE NOW." **The thing inside Ladybird laughed. Then she wrenched backwards with a yelp, and lay twitching on the floor. She screamed. "GET OUT!" She surged upwards, her eyes changing back to blank. **"NO."**

Ladybird twisted on the floor in silent agony, and he saw her eyes flickering from white to normal in rapid succession.

Dawn looked around helplessly, and noticed that the Daleks were gone. Then, the Doctor swooped down, and yelled, "Dawn! Here, catch!"

He caught it, and looked at it. It was a green bean.

"Feed Ladybird it, quick! It'll purge her body of the creature inside, permanently," the Doctor called, rushing over.

Dawn ran over to the writhing shape of Ladybird, but she had her teeth clenched shut. He hooked the spike of each of his wings to the jaws, and wrenched. Ladybird's mouth opened, and even her pink tongue twitched. He dropped the bean in, released her jaws, and they closed. Then, the writhing stopped. Ladybird opened her wonderful eyes, they were not blank, _not _blank.

"However," the Doctor said. "One problem."

"Uh oh." Dawn said.

"She will be very, very _very_ hungry for the next 24 hours."

Ladybird sat up. "Hey, uh, has anyone got any food?"

The Doctor and Dawn looked at each other.

* * *

Dawn was tired.

He leant against the stone walls of the palace dining hall, and collapsed. The Doctor was right. Ladybird was VERY hungry.

She was now resting against the wall, full as the moons on the brightest night.

He slowly drifted into an uncanny sleep, occasionally interrupted by shouts of "Stop eating my tail!".


	13. Chapter 13 - The Painting

Dawn woke with a start.

As he looked around sleepily, he noticed that there was a huge chunk taken out of the table nearest him.

He sat up, and crawled over to it. He scrutinised it, and then saw teeth marks, and a tooth still jammed into the woodwork. _Oh Ladybird..._

_Still, better than her eating actual dragons... _he chuckled to himself.

He stood up, and scanned the room for the Doctor, or any other signs of Ladybird. Nothing.

Sighing, Dawn got up and wandered around the room. He thought about searching the palace, but wouldn't that be intrusive? If Ladybird was really on a hunt for something to eat... well. She was technically intruding herself. He held up one claw and sensed a figure just outside the room. _Could that be her?_

He walked over to the doorway, and peered round, and spotted the Doctor waving her glowy torch thing around.

"Ahem." he cleared his throat. She didn't seem to notice his presence, so he got closer, and that was when she twisted round and went, "Oh, hello! I'm just looking for our missing friend." her eyes hinted that she'd found something else too. "Oh, and this painting, do you see anything strange about it?"

Dawn squinted at it, and then moved to the left. "It's three-dimensional." he said, shocked. "That's not possible..."

The Doctor grinned at him. "I'm not sure to be surprised or scared. I love a good mystery!" she lifted her torch thing again. "Gallifreyan origin." she muttered to herself. "But who was it painted by?"

Dawn noticed that there were scavengers in it, and dragons too, with fire billowing out of small doll-house structures. "Hey!" he cried, struck by a lightning bolt of an idea. "This is the Scorching, which happened around 5000 years ago."

"Brilliant!" the Doctor cried, causing dragons to peer out of the doorways along the hall in surprise, before returning to their businesses. "But why?" she enquired. "Why do a painting of this specific event?"

He scanned the painting, and then saw that one of the figures stood out. "Hey, isn't this one of the metal things that attacked us in the throne room - a Dalek?"

The Doctor stared at it, then a bit more. "Yes." she said, grimly.

"What's it doing there?"

Suddenly, Ladybird blundered into the corridor. "There you two are!" she cried. "I've searched the entire palace for you! Woah that's a creepy painting." she skidded to a stop.

"It's been more than 24 hours since she took that bean right?" Dawn whispered to the Doctor.

"Should be." she replied, uncertainly. "Unless-" she was broken off by Ladybird taking a bite into the door, and cracking it. Ladybird then proceeded to chew it, swallow and then take another bite.

"Not quite." Dawn winced.

CRACK. CRUNCH CRUNCH.

"How strong are her teeth?" the Doctor asked.

"From the stories I read, Pantalan dragons used to eat wood. If they were starving, they would resort to chewing up branches and twigs. So pretty strong. Even though, when I found that she'd bitten into the oak table, there was a tooth left." he pulled it out of the bag around his shoulder to show her, before putting it back.

They both turned back to the painting, as Ladybird continued to demolish the 20 metre high door.

"Wait, there's a gap. On this side of the painting. Looks like a passageway." Dawn put one claw in the gap and wriggled it. "It's a really heavy painting, lucky I have this necklace." he patted his neck, where the necklace should have been. "BLASTED THREE MOONS!" he yelled, picking up a wood shaving left from Ladybird's feast. "I enchant this wood shaving to turn into my necklace, all enchantments cast by me on it, and to remove any other spells that were not cast by me, and destroy the original."

The shaving grew and melted into his black pearl and onyx necklace. "Ack! When I looked like a NightWing this didn't show up at all. Necklace, turn into a white pearl and moonstone necklace instead, and I enchant you to stay on my neck unless removed by me or anyone else who I give permission to."

The necklace obeyed.

He prised the gap wider, and he, the Doctor and Ladybird squeezed in, closing the 'door' behind them.

It was pitch black. Suddenly, something that felt like a rope whipped up and wrapped around his neck. He choked and shook it off with his magic, and the cave suddenly light up, revealing a huge, snake head. Its eyes narrowed, and it lunged for them. Ladybird screamed.


	14. Chapter 14 - Cyberdragon

The Doctor whipped out something.

It whirred, and Ladybird covered her ears.

She kept it out until the giant serpent was dazed enough for them to get past it.

They kept low, as the dripping tunnel they entered narrowed.

They kept moving, and their talonsteps echoed. The Doctor frowned, and took out her thing again. She waved it about, and it whirred again, softer. Then she brought it down to her face. "That's strange." she let her voice echo. "It says we're..."

Suddenly the cave lit up. There were lots of scavenger-sized shapes, Ladybird noticed. They were all... silver.

In the middle, there was the hunched figure of a massive dragon. He was also silver.

The Doctor had her mouth open wide. "Why am I always a magnet for trouble?" She shrugged, "Your world has been infested by the Cybermen for a long time."

The dragon in the centre of the room snapped his head up and screamed, a metallic scream, like a sharp iron blade cutting a sheet of it in half.

"Cybermen?" Dawn asked, his back spikes shivering. Ladybird put one wing over him.

"And the thing that is coming towards us is a Cyberdragon." The Doctor said, looking indecisive, wavering back and forth. "I think this calls for my favourite part of every plan. RUN!"

They ran, and the Cyberdragon screamed again. It squeezed through the gap and snapped at them, and it was followed by an army of what the Doctor called Cybermen.

They were in trouble. Deep trouble.


End file.
